Letters From Your Guardian Angel
by awizardingstateofmind
Summary: Character sketches from a Guardian Angel point of view. Chapter Two: Leo Valdez- "Why do people have to be so confusing? Machines aren't like that. You can open them up to see how they work and what keeps them running… And if they're broken, all you need is a few tools to fix them."
1. Nico

**Hey guys! I had a blast writing this- Nico di Angelo holds a place very close to my heart. I hope you have even half as much fun reading this as I did thinking it up. :) Sorry though- no Solangelo.**

 **.**

He is lonely fellow, to be sure. Even surrounded by all of his friends, Nico di Angelo is an outcast. No wonder, since he's the offspring of Hades himself, through he often forgets that he couldn't have possibly chosen his origin any more than anyone else could have.

He has a habit of walking quietly, which happens when your life is made of sneaking from place to place, and he has learned to listen quietly from the shadows and not speak up- which has saved his life more than once. But even now that he's back with people he trusts, those habits stick around. His friends often jump when he says something from the corner of the room, having forgotten he was there. He flinches every time they jump. He knows that his presence disturbs them, and that his abilities are, to be blunt, creepy. But somewhere inside he still wishes that they would accept him for who he is. Little does he know that for that to happen, he has to accept himself first.

Sometimes at night he lays awake, afraid to fall asleep. He knows that as soon as he does the nightmares will come back. Memories, almost. You see, Nico had fallen into the depths of Tartarus, but unlike his friends Percy and Annabeth, he had been all alone. Now every time he goes to sleep he sees it. The monsters, the darkness, the endless abyss. He feels it, too. A dull throbbing pain, just a ghost of what he'd felt when curse after curse had been mercilessly piled upon him. And the cold… the places he'd gone had been so _cold_. He often shivers under the blankets in memory. He was driven to the brink of insanity, and sometimes voices still haunt him in the back of his mind. But he fights it. Bravely, but all by himself. Sometimes I wish he would realize that he doesn't _need_ to do it all by himself. He's so afraid to let people in, though. He's used to being alone.

He's heartbroken too, underneath his shell. The one person who he's ever had strong feelings for is with someone else, and Nico has no doubt that what _they_ have together is true, genuine love. But maybe there's still hope for him. There's a girl who he's found himself staring at from time to time. Every time she turns to him and her blue eyes meet his brown, he swiftly turns away, but all he's found himself wishing that he'd have the courage to hold her gaze a little longer. He admires her spirit, her recklessness, her undaunted disposition- everything he wishes he had. When he looks in the mirror, all he sees is a shade. He is constantly reminding himself that Thalia Grace would never love him back.

Even through all of that pain, Nico di Angelo is a kind soul. He'd do anything to help a friend, but he doesn't let it show very often. There's joy left in his heart, but he hates to expose it. I guess he's just afraid he'll lose it. What he doesn't know is that his friends will always remember that time in the House of Hades, when they were fighting for their lives and winning. When everyone was doing things that they never thought they could. When new abilities had been unleashed, and the adrenaline level had went up to one hundred. Something amazing had happened that day.

Nico had smiled.

He had smiled, bright and joyful, purely delighted that they were winning and would live to fight another day. It was a bit unnaturally quirky, that smile, but I suppose that's because his face just wasn't accustomed to moving like that anymore. I always wish that I'd have been there to see that smile on his face. It must have been an amazing reminder that there's always hope, no matter how dark things can get.

Nico has been through way too much for someone his age- no, for anyone in the _universe_.

He has such a hard time being around people that people automatically think that he's hard to be around.

He's lonely, but they call him creepy.

He's scared, but they call him dark.

He's different, but they call him disturbing.

But the truth is? He's still half mortal. And mortals can only take so much before they break.

But Nico di Angelo's still hanging on.


	2. Leo

**Here it is- my thoughts on Leo V. Let me just say, I love this guy so much...**

 _Letters separated by dashes= Morse Code_

There are two sides to Leo Valdez.

As much as he denies it, it's true.

Side #1 is… quite literally, entirely _hot._ He's cocky, sarcastic, and super hilarious. His lightning fast comebacks make people laugh almost constantly. He's handsome, fit, and appears to be always happy… but if you're reading this, you already know all of that.

We're here to talk about the side of Leo Valdez that you don't ever see.

Side #2.

Side #2 is the side of Leo that he tries to keep smothered. The side that he covers up with a "You know you love me" attitude and an over-confidant swagger. The side that taps little messages out on the table in Morse code when he thinks no one is around. Most of them are directed to his mother.

 _I l-o-v-e y-o-u t-o t-h-e m-o-o-n a-n-d b-a-c-k._

Believe it or not, Leo's most worked-on project- well, apart from Festus, the Argo II, and his Archimedes Spheres- has always been his diary.

Okay, okay, his _ship log._

 _D-o y-o-u m-i-s-s m-e, M-o-m?_

He writes in his log every day. He'll wake up half an hour early every morning to write in it-just so the others won't get suspicious.

Percy and Jason would never let him live if down if they found out he had a diar- _ship log_ , sorry.

 _I m-i-s-s y-o-u e-v-e-r-y d-a-y._

If you read his log, you would see him in a different light.

He's completely honest with himself in there- mostly because he'd created it with fifteen high-quality locks made with the latest Cabin 9 technology. No one was getting into that notebook.

If you read it, you'd read things that he's never told a soul. "How is it that I'm surrounded by friends, but I still feel like I'm the only one?" "Maybe I'm just destined to be alone forever." "I bet if I left right now no one would miss me."

 _I w-i-s-h y-o-u w-e-r-e h-e-r-e._

You'd read words and phrases doodled onto the paper that'd make you want to cry for him. "Useless" "Forever Alone" "Seventh Wheel" and "Broken". He's no artist, by any means, but if you looked at his doodles and sketches you'd be left breathless.

Every one carries the essence of loneliness.

 _H-o-w c-o-m-e y-o-u-'v-e b-e-e-n g-o-n-e f-o-r y-e-a-r-s, y-e-t I s-t-i-l-l m-i-s-s y-o-u?_

Leo lies in bed late into the night sometimes, just thinking: Why do people have to be so confusing? Machines aren't like that. You can open them up to see how they work and what keeps them running… And if they're broken, all you need is a few tools to fix them.

 _S-o-m-e-t-i-m-e-s I d-r-e-a-m o-f y-o-u, y-o-u k-n-o-w._

Once Piper caught him tapping in Morse code at a Camp Half-Blood meeting and wrote down the dots and dashes.

Her heart broke for him when she translated it later:

 _T-h-e-y a-l-l s-e-e-m s-o h-a-p-p-y. I w-o-n-d-e-r w-h-a-t i-t f-e-e-l-s l-i-k-e?_

.

Everything changed once he met Calypso, though.

He came back from Ogygia consumed with a joy and a sadness that no one's ever seen in him. He'll whistle while he works during the day, and cry himself to sleep at night.

 _I-'m c-o-m-i-n-g b-a-c-k f-o-r y-o-u, j-u-s-t y-o-u w-a-i-t. I s-w-e-a-r i-t o-n t-h-e R-i-v-e-r S-t-y-x._

He'll stare at the portrait of her that Hazel had drawn with a smile on his face one day and tears in his eyes the next.

One day he'll look at the drawing and think, _I love you, chica._

But the next day, it'll only be, _I miss you, beautiful._

Those two phrases alone, I think, are enough to show you the two sides of Leo Valdez.

.

The war is over. He's back to the camp. And you should have seen the look on his friend's faces when he flew in on his majestic metal dragon…

 _T-h-e-y r-e-a-l-l-y m-i-s-s-e-d m-e?_

His return was celebrated by all of the camp. That night he cried, overcome by so many emotions.

 _I d-i-d-n-'t t-h-i-n-k a-n-y-o-n-e c-a-r-e-d f-o-r m-e l-i-k-e t-h-i-s._

He'll still have bad days. He'll still want to give up. He'll still cry himself to sleep sometimes. He'll still send silent messages to his mother, even though he knows that she'll never hear him. He'll still write in his "ship log" occasionally, but nowadays it's filled with more happy thoughts. He'll still stare at his picture of Calypso that hangs above his work desk, even if she's right there with him, her hand on his shoulder, gazing down at him with eyes full of love.

All those weeks and months and years of loneliness left a scar.

But luckily, he's got something to keep him running this time:

 _I-'m n-o-t a-l-o-n-e a-n-y-m-o-r-e._

 _._

 **(btw, sorry for the title change)**


End file.
